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Saturday, January 3, 2009

The Making of a Light box

A light box is something I've been meaning to construct for some time now. I get so frustrated when trying to take photos of things that I make in the winter time because of the lack of natural light. Everything looks dark and blah.

After a conversation today with miss Jen the Beantown Baker about techniques to improve her delicious food photography I decided to take on the challenge of creating an affordable, collapsible light box for people who may be short on space as well as cash. The problem I found with many of the affordable foam core light boxes is that every time you want to take it down you risk having the tape rip the walls apart. That in combination with the potentially frustrating assembly as one fumbles with the foam core like a house of cards lead me to the idea of a dove-tail like joint for the box.

This light box design cost about $4 for the foam core and another $1 for the poster board that I use to create a seamless background. It's quick and easy to assemble, tear down, and store away. I still need to find brighter lighting, I used two dim desk lamps to test, but it definitely has potential!

First I cut the foam core into 20"X20" panels. I then labeled each panel according to it's location on the box to keep myself from getting confused.After I labeled my 4 sides I measured a 1" thick margin where each joint connected. Then I laid out the panels according to where they connected to the 'back' panel. Imagine the sides and top folding up at each joint and you can visualize how the box will connect.

With the joints touching I measured out 3" notches and drew my line across both panels to ensure that everything would fit together nicely. For someone who is less than precise when it comes to measuring, this is a great technique to ensure a good fit. I then shaded in the notches that I wanted to cut out with my exacto knife. I did this to keep from cutting out the wrong notch accidentally.

By tilting your panel up you can see where the notches fit into each other. The white ones, or tabs will fit into the shaded ones, the ones I cut out.

Once you cut out the shaded boxes to create your notches, you should be able to easily assemble the light box.

Here's the light box assembled. This will create 3 nice white surfaces to bounce light off of to create a nice even light source for product photography. The final step is adding a strip of poster board to create a seamless backdrop for the product. Since the light box is 20" wide with a 1" margin on each side I needed to cut my poster board to be 18" wide.

Again, I did not want to use tape which could tear the box and the poster board, so I cut notches into the poster that fit into the tabs on the 'back' panel. I set the poster's notches into the 'back' panels, then laid the 'top' panel on top of it to hold it in place. It worked out great.

Here are the 2 dim desk lamps I used to test the setup. I'd recommend getting a couple of those silver dome lamps with daylight bulbs to give brighter, better light. Here's a comparison of the light box set up vs. the flash on my camera.

As you can see, the flash blows out the subject when you try to get close to it and creates a harsh shadow. It also flattens the image because the light source is only coming from one location straight on. The light box feels nice and soft and helps show off the contours of the subject by providing light from multiple angles.

Once I finished with the light box you simply pulled it apart and all of the panels lay nice and flat so that you can store it easily til the next use!

For other takes on the light box hack, check out:

Steph's light box which is made out of an old box, cloth, and poster board. This one diffuses light instead of bouncing it off the walls

This is too crazy. Rob and I just attempted to make our own studio, but we used PVC pipe, poster board and white fabric. So weird! I'll try to get pics up later. Your method is much more efficient. Great stuff!

That IS crazy! I can't believe you guys, me, and Steph were ALL doing the same thing and none of us knew about it. It's cool that they're all diff techniques too! I can't wait to see yours. The great thing about the pvc is that it will last longer and it's probably a bit bigger. Very cool! I'll link it when you've got something posted.

wow, this box looks great...and relatively simple to assemble. i've been afraid of making one, but i know it will make the food on my blog look much better. thanks for posting it! i think i will be trying to make one this weekend.

I bought my foam boards today! I wanted to make my own light box and since we don't have enough space to have a light box sitting around all the time, I was really happy when I found your post. Thanks!

I finally made my light box today. I've made one minor change but otherwise it's completely similar to yours. And I'm SO thrilled about it!! My first picture is up on my blog (http://pm-betweenthelines.blogspot.com/2009/01/up-and-running.html)... Thanks for sharing this great tutorial!

Hello! I sent a note to your etsy because I couldn't find a contact email - but I wanted to check with you before I linked back to your tutorial. I made this last night and now that I see others have asked I wanted to make sure prior to posting. Thanks! It's a great tutorial.

I was going to write a similar blog concerning this topic, you beat me to it. You did a nice job! Thanks and well add your rss to come categories on our blogs. Thanks so much, Jon B.Motion Graphic Design

hi there, I am happy to find an easy enough tutorial for a light box that can be dismantled for storage purposes, that was my biggest beef about other tutorials, the boxes looked good but no way to store it. Thanks for doing this tutorial!

That's so cool. I did buy a collapsible light box from a UK retailer (Maplin) but it was on sale so I remember paying only 10 bucks for it. My light box is actually open on top so that I put my light source on either side ( I actually use only the one ). And the light shines from above against the reflective white surface. Also I read somewhere to change your E.V. value on your digital camera to 0.7+ and that slightly overexpose your picture then you can 'fix' it with any photographic software package. I use Picasa. Thanks again for sharing this DIY light box it's an excellent idea. Take care, Fab

Just made this this afternoon! It probably took me about an hour and less than $7 in materials. I still need the clip lights, but once I get those I'll be taking prettier pics thanks to your tutorial!Thanks so much for posting it!

I love your article on how to create your own lightbox and would like to use the photo of the bird with a flash and then in the light box to show my readers the benefits. I will then be linking to your tutorial on how to create the light box.

Let me know if this is okay.Thanks! Elizabethwww.to-be-charmed.comtobecharmed@yahoo.com

Great setup. I'm going to do one too, but where do you all find the foam board on the cheap? and what thickness do you buy? I've only looked at Staples, Office Depot which carry foam board with 3/18" thickness, but it's not as cheap as $4. Thanks.

I collect wrestling action figures and I have fun creating Pic Feds, like wrestling picture shows. I usually require a nice surface (32x32 or larger) to setup my arena, ring, entrance, etc.; but I have a very small place. I have done different setups and my main issue is always how to store it when I'm not using it and your idea is such a perfect and simple solution, I'm mad I didn't even think about it before, lol. Definitely going to try it out as soon as I have some extra cash to buy the material needed.

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Hello! Thanks for visiting. This site is essentially just a big catalog of food, photos, illustrations, designs, animations, prints, crafts that I make. From time to time I'll post a little bit about something inspiring me at the moment. I love thoughts and comments so feel free to share.